DUBAI: The United Arab Emirate’s probe mission to Mars was postponed on Tuesday due to weather conditions at the launch site in Japan, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) said.
The UAE mission to explore Mars will be launched on Friday July 17, at 12:43 a.m. UAE time, the agency explained, Â as weather conditions at the launch site on Tanegashima Island were not suitable.
The Mars probe was a deal signed by MBRSC and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) company.
The mission will send an unmanned probe called ‘Hope’ to study the Martian atmosphere and climate. Hope’ will be a spacecraft, roughly the size of a car. The probe is expected to arrive at Mars between January and March of 2021 to coincide with the country’s 50th anniversary.
If it reaches Mars, it will be the first-ever successful Arab mission to another planet.
